Hunter
02/23/20
A Coralville transient who was being transported from the Mount Pleasant Correctional Facility to Hope House was missing from the bus when it arrived in Iowa City, but he was found over two weeks later asleep in a laundromat.
According to court records, 38-year-old Brian Luedtka was due to arrive in Iowa City via Burlington Trailways Bus on February 5th at approximately 3:45pm. A residential officer scheduled to meet Luedtka discovered that when the bus arrived, Luedtka was nowhere to be found. A warrant was issued for his arrest the next day.
Saturday morning, officers were called to the Soapy Waters Laundromat on 22nd Avenue in Coralville at 4:45 on reports of a male sleeping inside. When officers arrived, Luedtka identified himself with a Florida ID. When told the ID wasn’t his and he was going to be detained by officers until they found out who he was, Luedtka reportedly took off running despite orders to stop.
Once detained and identified, officers learned of the outstanding warrant. They also allegedly found a baggie of meth and a cut up Bic pen used to snort the drug with residue inside.
Luedtka was arrested and charged with providing false ID, a controlled substance violation, possession of drug paraphernalia, interference with official acts, and voluntary escape. If convicted on all counts, Luedtka could be sentenced to 27 months in prison.
Luedtka has a lengthy criminal record, including a 2018 Iowa City incident where he was found with a backpack containing meth, scales, hypodermic needles and syringes. He was also sentenced in 2017 on a charge of interference with a corrections official and was given a ten year prison sentence.after robbing Midwest One Bank on Highway 965 in North Liberty in 2008.
